Air India, the third largest airline in India, has been blighted by problems in recent years.

The state-run airline has not reported an annual profit since 2007 and there have been reports of staff turning up late for flights

In April, the airline grounded two of its pilots after the pair got into a fight moments before take off.

In 2010, 158 people were killed when an Air India Boeing 727-800 plane crashed when the aircraft overshot a hilltop runway plunging over a claff and crashing into a ravine on the outskirts of Mangalore. Only eight people survived.